Thieves and vandals are targeting community organizations across Winnipeg, forcing the cash-strapped non-profit operations to cover thousands of dollars in losses and repair costs.
On Oct. 15 Inner City Youth Alive Inc. on Aberdeen Avenue was hit with a line “pinch” on its freezer condensing system — someone cut through the fence to get at the machine’s copper coolant line on the outside of the building.
The thief was not successful in taking any copper, but the system was damaged and the freezer malfunctioned, forcing the non-profit to throw out thousands of dollars in food used for its Meals 4 Kids program. The organization also covered the bill to repair the condenser line.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Kent Dueck, Executive Director at Inner City Youth Alive, which had it’s freezer system vandalized twice for its copper tubing.
Ten days later the suspect returned to finish the job.
“They must have been doused in freezer coolant to do it, because that’s what runs through the line,” ICYA executive director Kent Dueck said Tuesday. “It just sort of speaks to the level of desperation that this individual had.”
The Meals 4 Kids program feeds breakfast, lunch and dinner to nearly 3,000 kids each month. Dueck estimated between spoiled meals and condenser repairs, the organization is out almost $3,000.
ICYA has since put cable guards up on the fence to prevent more vandalism, but may have to pay $20,000 to move the condenser to the roof. The non-profit’s limited budget doesn’t account for such expenditures and can’t continue paying for the same repairs, Dueck said.
“We hope that we’ve gone far enough … we do everything on a shoestring budget and do it as creatively as possible,” he said.
In August, Spence Neighbourhood Association had its community fridge stolen from its post at 689 Maryland St. The fridge is usually filled with community donations for anyone in need to take.
Prior to the theft, a community garage SNA owns on Furby Street was hit by a car, damaging its door. Shortly after, the contents were stolen. And, after a neighbouring residential fire caused further damage, SNA’s insurance company informed the association that a $5,000 premium was required to protect the building.
The organization plans to demolish the garage in the spring, forcing it to find another home for the youth bicycle repair program housed inside.
“The squeeze is real for us, for sure,” executive director Michele Wikkerink said of the non-profit’s finances. “It’s discouraging when these kind of things happen. You’re busy dealing with all kinds of other things, and then something like this kind of hits you out of the blue.”
D’Arcy’s ARC thrift store on Main Street, which raises money for D’Arcy’s Animal Rescue Centre, is closing its doors in December, in part, due to rising theft.
“We have people on drugs coming in, breaking stuff and threatening employees,” manager Sydney Burnham said Wednesday. “It’s just not pleasant.”
Dueck said the theft and vandalism are second- and third-order consequences to the addictions crisis in the city.
“I’ve been at this for 38 years, and we have never shed more tears than in the last five years just to see this opioid crisis devastate the people we work with,” he said. “Now we’re starting to see the impact on charities.
“People, when they’re caught up in addiction, they do things that they would never do if they were clear-minded and healthy.”
Wikkerink pushed back on the notion that addictions and homelessness are driving the issue and pointed to other factors, including inflation and the overall cost of living.
“Who’s driving the desperation that makes somebody want to steal a copper wire out of a cooling system? What’s driving that desperation? It’s inflation that’s out of control, housing that we can no longer afford, minimum wage that’s too low for a person to live on in a respectful way, EIA rates that haven’t raised since the (1980s),” she said.
“You can blame that one person who took the fridge or who took the copper wire, but they’re just responding to the incredible squeeze people are feeling.”
While the Maryland community fridge was likely hauled away to sell for scrap metal, Wikkerink said it was likely an act of desperation.
“It’s definitely somebody who wanted a bit of extra cash for something, and if it was some guy living in St Vital, or if it was somebody just really needing to buy something for their kids, or if it was somebody who had addictions,” she said. “People are feeling squeezed, and people are doing, sometimes, things they might not have thought they’d ever do.”
Keith Horn, chair of the North End BIZ, says despite someone’s circumstances, people need to be responsible for their own actions.
“I grew up poor, but I knew it was wrong to steal,” he said. “Everyone has become a target.”
Horn said the Winnipeg Police Service needs to increase patrols in crime hot spots so organizations and business can maintain operations.
But community organizers, such as St. Boniface Street Links executive director Marion Willis, say preventative work and connections with the community should not be written off as a way to improve conditions.
Early intervention, free recreation and youth programs would improve issues within the inner-city significantly, Willis said.
“We believe that engaging community to own and solve challenges works best,” she said. “This is most successful when we can build inclusive, barrier-free opportunity.”
No matter the solution, organizations such as Dueck’s are calling for action on crime.
“If we don’t get ahead of this thing, it’s going to get so much worse,” he said.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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